wood vs. metal for dovetail and ramps???

[Deere Dude]

Good morning all. I have been in the planning stages of ordering a deck over for some time, and would like to hear opinions and experiences between wood covered dovetails/ beaver tails and/or the ramps themselves (flip overs), vs the angle iron (or diamond plate) option? I currently do not own any kind of equipment trailer, but use would be somewhat infrequent, and likely less than 100 miles per trip, so I can not really justify hydraulic dove. Weight will be a consideration as there are times it will likely be towed by an excursion. Metal tracks very unlikely, and I have large qty of 1/4" stainless lag bolts I could 'bolt' into the wood, leaving the head just above the wood, to give tires something to 'bite' onto when wet. Thank you, in advance.

i have a deckover GN with a wooden deck, metal angle iron beaver tail, and fold flat ramps and a car hauler style 20ft bumper pull with wooden deck, wooden beaver tail, and slide in ramps. they both have their advantages.

i got 17 years out of the pressure treated deck on the GN (it was at the end of it's life), just replaced it with white oak last week. never expect to replace it again while i own it. the fold flat ramps have built in support (that is a big plus), i will eventually get around to adding a way to pin them straight up. it is great to have a completely flat deck to haul hay, or anything else you want that needs a flat deck.



when i need to replace the beaver tail on the car hauler i will replace the wood with the angle iron. the slide out ramps can be a boon when you are hauling something that overhangs the rear of the trailer, but i need to carry 6x6s with me to provide some support to the rear of the trailer. when i need a flat deck i need to use a sheet of plywood and a 4x4 to get it

I have a 28 GN like the top picture here. Only I opted for three ramps so when folded up they make almost a full bed plus easier to load garden tractors or small stuff.

I put diamond plate steel on the bottoms of the ramps so when flipped up for traveling the plate is up. I also opted for spring assist for all the ramps. I am a big guy and can pull the ramps up and let them down without straining terribly or dropping them and wrecking the eardrums. It took awhile to figure out the procedure though.

 

[NC419N]

I will never have another trailer with pull out ramps!! Even my 22 year old son said that wrestling them out in and on the trailer was a pain in the *** and was happier than me when he learned that i got the Mega Ramp set up on the new GN. With that said the Metal Dove tail and ramp system is much better in my opinion and the 4500 goes on with no problems.

 

[Fallon]

Personally I'm sold on tilting deck trailers, no ramps to deal with at all. Due to the axle position, the tail end of your deck isn't usually usable due to balance issues. Tilting decks are a bit heavier & a few hundred bucks to a grand more than ramp trailer.

I'm going to be replacing my 16' tilting deck trailer (7klbs axles all steel deck) with a 22'. 6' of fixed deck & 16' of tilting deck usually. Haven't decided if I'll do wood or steel. Probably wood due to availability & price.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I will never have another trailer with pull out ramps!! Even my 22 year old son said that wrestling them out in and on the trailer was a pain in the *** and was happier than me when he learned that i got the Mega Ramp set up on the new GN. With that said the Metal Dove tail and ramp system is much better in my opinion and the 4500 goes on with no problems.

Boy your guys with the PIA using pull out ramps must be some real panty waists, or you have some stupidly heavy ramps. My ramps are made of angle iron and plenty strong to load my 8500# tractor without flexing. Even at 67 years old, a weak back with a herniated disc or two and still have no trouble sliding them out, then raising one end to hook into the groove at the dove tail. The only "problem" with pull out ramps vs the fold over that I can see is the lack of support on the trailer when loading so that it doesn't raise your truck up. That is easily overcome with some HF jack stands placed under the trailer.

 

[NC419N]

Boy your guys with the PIA using pull out ramps must be some real panty waists, or you have some stupidly heavy ramps. My ramps are made of angle iron and plenty strong to load my 8500# tractor without flexing. Even at 67 years old, a weak back with a herniated disc or two and still have no trouble sliding them out, then raising one end to hook into the groove at the dove tail. The only "problem" with pull out ramps vs the fold over that I can see is the lack of support on the trailer when loading so that it doesn't raise your truck up. That is easily overcome with some HF jack stands placed under the trailer.

All I am saying is giving a choice I will not have another one with pull out ramps. And the OP was asking for comparison's before he purchased.

The folding ramps especially the Big Tex Mega Ramp is much easier to use. My Father taught me "Work Smarter not Harder" and I do plenty of hard work but hopefully not unnecessarily so.
So if you want the pull out ones go for it but they are not for me

 

[DavesTractor]

Another issue with pull out ramps is they can lift a little and then come detached when loading. Rare, but I've seen it more than once. Swing down ramps just can't do that ever. My progression was from pull out ramp trailers to fold down ramps and now we run only tilt deck or hydraulic dovetail.

They all work and have their place. If you tow only occasionally it's not worth all the fancy hydraulic stuff.

 

[dodge man]

I consider myself a pretty big and realatively strong guy, but as I get into my 50's I looks for ways to make life easier. Yes the pull out ramps aren't that bad but still plenty heavy.

 

[disney]

I would like to thank everyone who has responded, but we have gotten a little off topic.

I (the op) know that I do not want pull out ramps. I was more interested in knowing if owners (or users) were happy with their ramp material (wood, diamond plate, or steel angle/ channel). Long ago I helped someone move with a car trailer, and I know that trying to get a hand truck up the angle iron ramps was next to impossible, given the smaller 8"-ish tires just kept falling into the big gaps between the angles. I know that is not a normal use for a car/equipment trailer, but it's something I might not have thought about before hand.

I tried to look (without spending weeks) for similar topics, but they seemed to either deal with (metal) tracked equipment, ways to treat&/or replace wood, and tilt vs hydraulic dovetail, but nothing really about the actual ramp surfaces themselves. I know that the trailer brochures tout the angle iron ramps/beaver tails as self cleaning, and that makes sense, but unless you are mud bogging, does it really matter?

Also is there an actual difference between a dove tail and a beaver tail?...

 

[DavesTractor]

I like channel ramps with angle iron cross pieces. As for the hand truck issue, I too have run across that. I made some plywood pieces that I place over the ramps when I need to run a hand truck up the ramp. I keep the plywood secure to the ramps with some thin angle iron bolted to the edges of the plywood. Seldom did I use them, but it was sure nice when they were needed. Once loaded, you lift the plywood ramps off and toss them in the bed of the pickup and off you go.

I would not want diamond plate ramps as they are just too slippery.

 

[fried1765]

I am 76 years old, and bought a new wood deck flatbed just last year.
My 14,000lb. GVW trailer has a 17' long flat deck, plus a 3' beaver tail (all wood). I have no problem with deck, or ramp traction, but my trailer is the lowboy style ( Built by - Quality Steel & Aluminum).
The ramps are channel steel, with angle cross members. They fold up to the vertical position, and have welded legs for support when they are down.
Each ramp also has a STRONG assist spring to help with lifting effort. The ramps are detachable, but I see no need to ever do so.